Picker-staff clamp



(No Model.)

W. J. THOMPSON. PIGKER STAFF CLAMP.

Patented Jan. 4, 1898.

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UNITED STATES PATENT rrI cE,

YVILLIAM J. THOMPSON, OF HAW RIVER, NORTH CAROLINA.

PlCKER-STAFF CLAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,922, dated January 4, 1898.

Application filed July 28, 1897. Serial No. 646,224. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haw River, in the county of Alamance and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and useful Picker-Staif Clamp, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in clamps for holding the picker-rod on the lay of a loom; and the object that I have in view is to provide a simple and efficient clamp by which the picker-rod is securely held in place without exposing or subjecting it to the friction and wear due to bringing the clampingscrew indirect engagement with the pickerrod.

It is well known by those skilled in the art that the ordinary method of holding the picker-rod in place by arranging a binding-screw to impinge or been directly on the rod is open to objection in that the screw forms a cavity in the rod which requires the rod to be turned to give to the binding-screw a fresh hold, the

consequence of which is that the end of the rod is in course of time worn and mutilated to such an extent as to cause the rod to break in two and necessitate its replacement. I aim to overcome these objections by the provision of a simple form of clamp which may be easily attached to the lay of the loom, and which is constructed in a novel manner to grip and hold the picker-rod tightly and securely in place.

To the accomplishment of these ends my invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which--- Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a lay and a picker-rod with my improved clamp applied thereto. Fig. 2is an enlarged detail perspective view of the clamp by which the picker-rod may be attached to and held tightly on the lay. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the clamp.

Like numerals of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings, referring to which-- l designates a portion of the lay, and 2 is the picker-rod, of an ordinary loom. With these elements I have associated my improved 5 5 means for attaching and holding the pickerrod to the lay, and said attaching and holding means consists of the clamp shown in its entirety by the reference-numeral 3.

My clamp 3 consists of the two members or,

sections 4 5, an eye-formed or bifurcated bolt 6, provided on one side of the fixed member 4, and an attaching-bolt 7, projecting from the other side or face of the member 4 of said clamp. The members 4 5 constitutethe jaws working face of the fixed jaw or member 4 of the clamp is flat, except at the central portion thereof, where the jaw is provided with a curved groove or channel 8. The bolt 6 is straight for a part of its length, but the inner part of the bolt 6 is formed with a bifurcated 7 5 part which joins with the fixed jaw or member 4 of the clamp, said forked part of the bolt 6 being coincident with the groove or channel 8 to form therewith an eye or passage for the reception of one end of the picker- 8o rod 2. The movable member or jaw 5 of the clamp is formed with a recess 9, which terminates in an aperture or orifice 10, and the inner edge or face of said movable jaw or member has grooves or channels intersected by the recess 9, said grooves or channels being indicated by the numerals 11 11. This construction of the movable jaw or member 5 enables it to be fitted on the bolt 6, soas to receive within its recess 9 the forked part of the bolt and to have the straight shank of the bolt 6 pass through the orifice or aperture 10, whereby a nut 12 may be screwed on the protruding end of the bolt 6 to force the movable member or jaw5 tightly upon the picker- 9 5 rod to clamp the picker-rod between the two jaws or members 4 5 of the clamp.

My clamp is applied by passing the attaching-bolt 7 through an opening in the lay l and adjusting the nut 13 to fasten the bolt 7 I00 and the clamp securely in place on the lay. The end of the picker-rod is passed through the eye formed by the fixed jaw 4; and the forked end of the bolt 6, and the movable jaw or member 5 isnow applied to the bolt 6 and the nut 12 screwed in place to force the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw. The recessed or grooved faces of the jaws receive the picker-rod, and saidfaces of the jaws serve not strictly confine myself to this precise use of the clamp, because the device may be used advantageously in other relations where it is desired to hold a rod or equivalent device in place, nor do I limit myself to the precise form andproportion of parts herein shown and described as'the preferred embodiment of my invention, because it is evident that other, thus leaving a space between the two jaws to enable them to act efficiently in gripping the picker-rod or its equivalent.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. The combination with a lay,and a pickerrod, of the rigid clamp-j aw having a bolt which is attached to the lay, an eye-formed bolt rigid with said clamp-j aw and protruding from the working face thereof, a movable clamp-jaw fitted to the eye-formed part of the last-named bolt to be held against turning thereon and provided with duplex bearing-faces adapted to impinge the picker-rod on opposite sides of the point where said rod passes through the eye of the bolt, and a binding-nut fitted on the projecting bolt and bearing against the movable jaw, substantially as described.

2. In a clamp, the fixed jaw having a recess in its working face, and a forked bolt or shank united to the fixed jaw to have its space between the fork coincident with the recess in said jaw, combined with a movable, recessed jaw fitted to the bolt or shank to embrace the forked'part thereof, and a nut screwed on the bolt or shank and bearing against the movable jaw, as and for the purposes described.

3. A clamp comprising a fixed jaw having, on one side, a projecting attaching-bolt, and a recess or groove in its working face, a forked shank or bolt united with the fixed jaw to have the space between its forked part coincident with the recess 01' groove therein, a movable jaw fitted on the shank or bolt and recessed to fit the forked part of the shank, and forming the duplex bearing-faces to engage with an object adjusted between said jaws, and a nut, as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM J. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

J H. MAY, W. H. BROWN. 

